"A Committee of Correspondence"

26 July 2016

"Bernie Sanders Has Lost Control ... " Time

"It was supposed to be the night the Democratic Party finally exorcised its demons. Instead, on a sultry, hot day in Philadelphia, the long-simmering disillusionment of Bernie Sanders supporters erupted into anger. And not even the Senator himself could calm them.

A day of protests, booing and open dissent on Monday at the Democratic convention threatened to derail the party’s moment in the spotlight, exposing the fault lines that have divided the Democrats throughout the contentious primary between Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Inside the DNC convention hall, Sanders’ delegates shouted “Bernie! Bernie!” booed Clinton surrogates and even briefly broke into the “Lock Her Up!” chant favored by Donald Trump supporters.

One thing became clear: Sanders, who has spent the past 15 months condemning a “rigged system” and lambasting Clinton’s Establishment credentials, has conjured a spirit of resentment that he can’t dispel. He succeeded in creating a political revolution, but like many revolutionaries, he may have lost control of it." Time

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The Democratic party chairman was forced out yesterday. In the morning she went to a meeting of her home state's delegation and in Andrea Mitchell's words was "booed off the stage." The situation in the room became so bad that security people had to escort Wasserman-Schultz out.

"The Mornin' Joe" crew is busily at work for the purpose of boosting the idea that the Sanders revolution is over and that all will be well in the process of moving Hillary forward toward her coronation. Last night the "comedienne" Sarah Silverman told her former comrades in the Bernie crusade that they were being "ridiculous" in not accepting Hillary as national mother. Well, pilgrims, my enduring memory of Sara S. is not the cleaned up look of last night. No, it is the spectacle of her licking her little dog's butt on TV. She suffers from clinical depression and still wets the bed. It seems to me that many Berners will not take her exhortation seriously.

I am keen to learn if Time magazine is right in believing that the Sanders Revolution has outgrown him. The next few nights will tell us if that is so. pl

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Bernie spent most of his speech decrying the economy we have today. He talked about how horrible and unfavorable to minorities it is. I guess two Obama terms wasn't enough to correct this. At all. Bernie also blasted TPP. Both Hillary and Kaine, über globalists, were (are) supporters of it. Trump is the only one who has been dead set against it from the outset. Trump is an America-firster and has alwaysnbeen critical of the money-shifters to whom Clinton and Kaine are beholden.

Response to the (similar to the Time story) NY Times story this morning from retired Chicago Tribune national political reporter Charlie Madigan:

This is, of course, what is wrong with media. It can't say enough bad things. I watched the convention on CBSN and concluded they pretty much pulled it off by days end after some dicey, bothersome events that defined the early part of the day. This is why I loved writing roundups on big stories. You didn't get dragged into minutiae. Minutiae is what modern news reporting is all about now. I am happy to be old, given those circumstances.
Conclusions: Michelle Obama is every bit as good as the president at the podium. Brilliant speech that lacerated Donald Trump without mentioning him and called the nation to remember that it's children were watching. Corey Booker went full preacher with an address that asked everyone to rise up, which they did. Elizabeth Warren was measured and specific and made it clear she was in Hillary Clinton's corner and took her school teacher's Exacto Knife to Trump's achilles tendons. And then there was Bernie Sanders. What to say about that? He used his speech to pitch a continuation of the revolution. I loved that. I voted for him in Illinois and I would have voted for him again had he won the chance. He said strong nice things about Hillary and hard things about Trump. That is not what impressed me. What impressed me was whenever the camera panned the crowd, you could see the tears and disappointment in the faces of the loyalists who would have crawled across broken glass had he asked. It is a measure of his intelligence and kindness that he did not ask that.
The message of the day was pretty simple, come with us or there will be holy hell to pay. I can buy that. Here is something it did not need, celebrities. I know, I know, the Democrats have their Hollywood contacts and music connections. I hope Paul Simon had a cold because his voice was weak on "Bridge over Troubled Waters," and it was a waste of my time, your time, everyone's time, to have Al Franken and Sarah Silverman vamping until Simon got ready. Al, I would argue, wasn't ever very funny even on Satuday Night Live in the olden days. I suspect, it being the Democrats, there will be more of this as the convention progresses. Distraction at best, I think.
The FBI announced it is investigating who cracked into Democratic National Comittee's email server and scooped up thousands of emails that ended up released by the Wiki folks. The Russians were somehow involved, so you know there is nothing good going to come of it. Trump apparently will just keep on tweeting through the Democratic event. That's fine. He looks like an idiot and an asshole in most cases. Out. Night!

(((((((((((Sarah Silverman)))))))))))) looked pretty helpless up there without someone to write her some real 'zingers' before hand. Gamma Male-let Al Franken (I cannot call him a man) attempted to ride to the rescue of Maiden Faire, and they both looked shell shocked with their echo chamber penetrated.

For all you Bernie supporters out there (TTG, looking at you my friend), his 12 pieces of silver to not contest the convention was an airplane provided by the HRC campaign so he could fly around the country. Yet another "do as I say, not as I do" socialist who wants to ride around in imported capitalist goods while railing against the "imperialist pig dogs".

The entire vibe of the DNC felt like it was 2012 and they thought they were running against Romney. Nothing turns off Americans more than being lectured by mystery meat "activists" about how evil the country they live in is. Also, bringing out someone with Down's Syndrome for sympathy is screaming to the sky that you don't have a strong hand.

When the first Wikileaks scandal broke out Sect. Clinton was one of the most outspoken critics of Assange. And then there was the business about the sexual assault charges in Sweden and whether or not that was a way for the Swedes to turn him over to the U.S. I am not qualified to make a judgement on those particulars. Even though the Ecuadoran embassy is better than a U.S. prison, Assange has had years to feel this particular burn. So, if he really has something very damaging, like proof the Russians were tapping her computer and/or Blackberry, does he drop the release the leak before she gets the nomination -- and do the Democrats a favor. Or does he wait until after. Maybe he has worked out a deal with Trump, I'll drop the bomb before the first debate and if elected you call off the dogs. It will be very interesting to watch this one layout. I am appalled by the two major party choices, but this may provide the election tale of all time.

At the rate that terrorists are striking in Europe, coupled with the likelihood that there will be a few more attacks in the USA between now and November, Trump is going to moonwalk into the white house.

So glad you mentioned Sarah. When I travel I seek out omedy clubs and this is one person I wouldn't cross the street to see.
I'm livid today that some people have the nerve to tell me that I should change my mind based on HER comment. People are lost. I didn't know how damaged she was until until reading your post. I do know she's quite vulgar and I feel embarrassed for her parents.
I cried watching Sanders last night, still never will support neocon backed Hillary. I'll rest well with my decision.

Amazing even that Paul Simon believes that he could sing Art Garfunkle's greatest song. Perhaps if Art had been there singing it, those troubled waters at the Democratic Convention might have been less roiled ;-)

1) 68 percent say Clinton isn't honest and trustworthy …
2) Her image has never been worse. CBS showed just 31 percent have favorable views of Clinton and 56 percent have unfavorable ones. …
3) Just 38 percent would be "proud" to have her as president. That's down from 55 percent in March 2015. Sixty percent say they would not be proud. On this measure, she's basically on the same footing as Trump, whom 39 percent would be proud of and 59 percent wouldn't be.
4) Nearly half of Democratic primary voters still want Bernie Sanders … The CNN poll, in fact, shows 45 percent of those who voted in Democratic primaries still say they wish it was Sanders. Just 49 percent say they prefer Clinton — down from 55 percent a month ago.

Other than Schultz, they are labeled losers due to poor or uninspiring speeches. As she is one of my state senators I am aware of what a poor politician Warren is. She may be smart and attractive, but she's terrible on the stump, always sounds wooden or forced or school-marmy. They really should have given her the job that best suited her qualifications... heading the Consumer Protection Bureau.

How can Sanders or Elizabeth Warren join, what they were disavowing yesterday. They loose credibility. In the meanwhile "The People" have discovered that they are not alone in their resentment of the system. It is like crystallization. A core started it but then the rest goes on whether the core stays or not.

Michelle was the same tired passive aggressive Blackety Black all the time nonsense. Booker is the same preacher rhetoric that we have been getting from the OTHER Gay Urkel politician for the last 8 years. Warren and Bernie attacked a straw man while supporting the same woman they railed against as little as a month ago.

I thought 30 pieces of silver was the going rate. I guess Bernie got short changed.
After many years as an 'anti establishment' figure, he's rolled over for the hag and shown that he's all bark and no bite. He's now thoroughly debased and prostituted himself and I can't see how he can have any credibility remaining.

I think that "hybrid warfare" is the future of warfare. Countries that wish to be great powers won't eschew democracy because countries that do simply can't be economically resourceful enough to be great powers. Between countries that are democracies and pseudo-democracies - influencing one another's elections simply provides more "bang for the buck" than fighting it out on battlefields.

Tyler -- Believe it or not, I know plenty of people who will vote for Trump, including plenty of people who live within walking distance. If he's elected, I certainly won't be saying "How could this happen?"

I was regarded as something of an expert on comedy during my years as an entertainment critic for the Chicago Tribune -- profiled and reviewed just about everyone of note in the field -- and I have never found Sarah Silverman funny. Her big mistake, among the many she makes, is that she thinks that the mere act of being "transgressive" in some sense makes what results funny. She has done some decent voice-over work, though.

I'd been puzzled more by the way the convention was covered (and the way Clintonistas have been reacting) than by the alleged disruptions at the convention itself.

As far as I could find out, the disruptions were minimal and most Berners were fairly well behaved. The way the media was talking, it was as if it was Chicago 1968 all over again.

This speaks more of the Clintonists' mindset than anything else: they are so smug and overconfident in their self-given righteousness (b/c no mere God or people gave them this rightness) that they cannot brook any show of discontent or disagreement. If they keep this up, this former Sanders-sympathizer might actually go vote Trump after all.

Big Bernie guy here as are my family and friends in our corner of New England -- we are all working class and have had it with the oligarchy. While we are only 50 miles from Cambridge, we are a veritable world away from that den of self-regarding iniquity. Lots of people work with their hands here and heat by wood stove. There's no "app" to chop firewood yet, as far as I know. Nor to go fishing.

And we cheered and raised our fists in triumph when the boos began yesterday. As for Silverman: you know what's ridiculous? Claiming to believe in something then dropping it at the slightest social pressure or in the face of bogeyman threats (the Russians are coming!) And having millionaires who've never worked with their hands condescend to us and order us around -- why, that's sure to clinch that elusive working class vote!

And Putin? Seriously? That our oh-so-tolerant liberals are unable to understand the world from the Russian point of view suggests they aren't so tolerant after all, that it's just been a transparent fig leaf for their class interests all along.

Our Vichy Liberals don't realize that being called uncool by a mediocre entertainer doesn't matter to people with actual convictions. I wonder if they remember what those are.

The majority of Bernie Bros like The Bern himself will vote for Hillary in the Fall. The Clintons have always screwed over the Left "Progressives", since they know that they will always come home to Mommy, no matter the abuse. Picking Kaine was another example of giving them a good kick in the teeth.

This DNC rigging was perfect as there can be no denying the "progressives" are mostly all hat and no cattle.

Whatever one says about the rednecks, at least this time they gave a big middle finger and nominated Trump.

So I guess I'm the only one who remembers 8 years ago? When literally the same thing played out at the Democratic convention, only that time it was HRC supporters who called themselves PUMAs (Party Unity My Ass)? Who swore up and down that they'd never vote for Obama? And in the end, almost all of them voted for Obama.

This is a tempest in a teacup compared to delegations walking out and the runner-up refusing to endorse the winner, as happened less than a week ago. And even that probably won't make any difference when it comes to November.